1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the processing of electronic documents in a computer network. More particularly, the invention relates to systems and methods for processing electronic documents that require, for example, status manipulation operations in a computer network-based collaborative workflow.
2. Background Information
Computer network-based collaborative electronic document (or data set) processes commonly transverse a plurality of stages, such as assembling, storing, review and transmission stages. These stages are typically defined in the form of a workflow. Transitions from one workflow stage to another may be contingent upon a computer network component processing the data set within the current workflow stage. The transition from one workflow stage to another may be initiated automatically or by automated dialogue-type communications.
The computer-assisted procurement of goods and services and the computer-assisted manufacturing of complex machinery are typical examples of multi-stage collaborative electronic document processes. During a procurement process, for example, electronic documents containing data pertaining to different collaborative processing steps, such as purchase requisitions, goods ordering, goods receipt, and invoicing, are successively generated and have to be successively stored, processed and confirmed.
As complex collaborative processes necessitate the interaction of a plurality of computer network components, software mechanisms handling the generation, storage and manipulation of process-related electronic documents typically operate on distributed components of a computer network. This feature allows the electronic documents to be accessed from different computer network components (or processors) at different workflow stages.
When an electronic document is subjected to a collaborative workflow and waiting to be processed by a computer network component, the contents of the electronic document may be identified as “waiting” for review. Such waiting periods considerably lengthen the duration of the entire workflow. Another problem is that during (or waiting for) the review intervention, the contents of an electronic document may not be accessible by other network components to ensure data integrity. This restriction results in other users experiencing an access delay which, depending on the specific situation, can range from several seconds to several hours or days. Such access delays are disruptive in scenarios of the above kind where several stages have to be traversed before the workflow is completed, and particularly in arrangements that involve numerous collaborative users, workflow stages, and processes running in parallel. Furthermore, as the entire contents of a data set may be provided to a network component for processing, unnecessary bandwidth is consumed both in the receipt of the data set for processing and transmission of the processed data set.
FIG. 3 illustrates a conventional technique 300 for handling an electronic document (in an exemplary procurement context) having multiple items associated therewith, each of which may require status manipulation by one or more processors (i.e., computer network components). An initial electronic document IED (e.g., shopping cart data set) 310 containing at least one item that is subject to status processing (e.g., approval/rejection), is routed via control information included its header to processor A 320, processor B 330, . . . processor N 340 for serial processing. Once (or if) the electronic document has been fully processed, which in this case requires an approval from each of the processors, it is sent to a transfer module 350, which creates for the electronic document one or more follow-on electronic documents FOEDs (e.g., purchase order data sets) 360, 370. With this arrangement, the items associated with the electronic document result in the electronic document being processed by a particular processor. Even if only a single item amongst a large number of items requires further processing, the contents of the entire electronic document are made available to each processor, which may result in unnecessary processing power and bandwidth consumption.
An alternative processing approach to the header-based technique of FIG. 3 is illustrated in FIG. 4. With this approach, items 410, 420, 430 within an initial electronic document (e.g., shopping cart) 405 are individually and serially provided to a series of processors 440, 450, 460 whether or not processing is actually required by the applicable processor (thereby increasing needed processing power and network traffic). If and when the electronic document has been fully processed, a transfer module 470 conveys the relevant item information into a single follow-on electronic document (e.g., purchase order) 475, 485, and 495. As an individual follow-on electronic document 475, 485, 495 is associated with each item 410, 420, 430, multiple follow-on electronic documents may be generated and transmitted to a single computer network component (e.g., associated with a vendor) resulting in increased processing and network traffic.
Accordingly, it will be appreciated that there remains a need for an improved electronic document processing technique that minimizes high network traffic conventionally associated with collaborative workflows and reduces the overall processing power consumed during a collaborative workflow.
It is an object of the present invention to enable an efficient handling of electronic documents containing many items in a collaborative workflow scenario as described above. Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide an approach that enables an automatic and standardized processing of complex electronic documents and ensures an accelerated processing thereof, while at the same time minimizing network traffic.